Pathology of the Political and Social Life of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) in Tabari Historiography

The Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs, in order to show their innocence from violating the rights of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS), always prevented the dissemination of the truth. They tried to distort the socio-political realities of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS). The caliphs, therefore, engaged in historiography to direct and shape it in a way that disturbs public opinion about the thoughts of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) and other opponents of power, and in return, to present a pure innocent image of the caliphs. This approach, which is recorded in historical texts, later was accepted by authors and researchers without historical and logical analysis and has been reflected in their research. This research, by descriptive-analytical method and library study of first-hand sources, has studied the traces of this damage in the first-hand historical sources of the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs, with emphasis on the Tarikh Tabari. The present study seeks to investigate the question of why Tabari had dual procedures in reporting the life of the Ahl al-Bayt during the Umayyad and Abbasid periods. The findings of this study show that the extended report of the events of the history of the Ahl al-Bayt (AS) in the Umayyad period and in contrast, its briefness in the Abbasid period, is due to a politicized approach in Tabari historiography.